This fan-made Uncharted movie starring Nathan Fillion proves video game movies don’t have to be awful

It’s not exactly a controversial statement: Movies based on video games are, generally, bad. See Assassins Creed. Or that weird mess that was Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. Or that Super Mario movie where Bowser (renamed “President Koopa” for some reason) was basically just a dude with bad hair for half the movie.

Turns out, as this live action fan film based on Naughty Dog’s Uncharted suggests, they can be done right.

This fan-made short is about as unofficial as can be, as noted by a disclaimer that pops up on screen right off the bat.

And yet, it does a better job of capturing the feel of its source material than pretty much any game-based movie before it.

And it stars Nathan Fillion! Captain friggin’ Reynolds himself! Fans have been saying for ages that Nathan Fillion would make for one helluva Nathan Drake, and it seems like the hive mind really nailed that casting.

Is it silly? Sure. Will people who’ve never played the Uncharted series understand what’s going on? Maybe not. But it feels like Uncharted, down to a scene in which I half expected to be asked to mash some invisible X button to ensure Nathan’s punch connected.

Would it work as a feature-length movie? It’s hard to say. But if they found a way to release something like this episodically, I’d tune in. Alas, no word yet on any future plans from the team involved.